Solar Warrior - Monitor Help

[Nightowljrm]

I purchased this arcade cabinet of Solar Warrior for $200 earlier this summer. I couldn't get the sound to work, so I worked on the sound chip on the board itself and it worked. (I didn't mess with anything on the monitor, but I'm trying to take everyone through the steps I took).

So it worked! I got to play it for a day as it should be. When I returned to the cabinet the next morning, the monitor wouldn't turn on...

So... how can I tell if it's dead or not? It won't turn on AT ALL, and I think it's dead...

This is also my first arcade machine and I read that it was a good machine to start working on, so... I guess I'll have to learn how to replace or fix the monitor.

Can anyone give me some suggestions or point me in any direction? Any help would be appreciated, the seller has ceased replying to my emails.

[Nightowljrm]

Try Cinelabs:
http://www.cinelabs.com/

I'm sorry, but I'm a total noob... that doesn't help me at all...

:help:

[Nightowljrm]

I know how to discharge the monitor. I'll watch that video series and get back to you. Do you need me to upload any pictures?

[Arcade Antics]

I purchased this arcade cabinet of Solar Warrior for $200 earlier this summer. I couldn't get the sound to work, so I worked on the sound chip on the board itself and it worked. (I didn't mess with anything on the monitor, but I'm trying to take everyone through the steps I took).

So it worked! I got to play it for a day as it should be. When I returned to the cabinet the next morning, the monitor wouldn't turn on...

So... how can I tell if it's dead or not? It won't turn on AT ALL, and I think it's dead...
Are you getting power at all? Or does the game play but you have no picture? If everything is dead (and presuming you haven't knocked a connection loose or toggled the interlock switches), you'll need to rebuild or replace the power supply.

What do you mean when you say you "worked on the sound chip?"

[Nightowljrm]

Are you getting power at all? Or does the game play but you have no picture? If everything is dead (and presuming you haven't knocked a connection loose or toggled the interlock switches), you'll need to rebuild or replace the power supply.

What do you mean when you say you "worked on the sound chip?"

The power-supply is completely fine. Green light and everything.

As for the sound chip, there was this little chip, I think it said SW-[some numbers] with these little switches on them. I adjusted a few and the sound worked marvelously.

[Arcade Antics]

The power-supply is completely fine. Green light and everything.
That's a big assumption, ps green light does not = completely fine.


As for the sound chip, there was this little chip, I think it said SW-[some numbers] with these little switches on them. I adjusted a few and the sound worked marvelously.
That's not a sound chip. It's a set of dip switches that controls things like coins per credit and difficulty settings. You probably have a bad connection somewhere, it's a coincidence that the sound came back on after you toggled the dips.

If you want help, we need to know if the game is playing or not.

[Nightowljrm]

Although the monitor doesn't change (it appears to be off), the sound plays fine. Then when I put in a quarter and press P1, the game begins to play and I can play the game, it's just playing blind.

(I was told that the green light on the power source indicated that it was fine).

[Arcade Antics]

Good to know. So the power supply is working well enough to power the game, and the game is functioning properly, that leaves the monitor.

Re-check all the connections to the monitor. If it was working and then stopped suddenly and you didn't smell the flyback burning up, you could have just knocked something loose. If those are all good, check the fuses with a meter.

Is the game Solar Warrior or Solar Quest? If it's Solar Warrior, what monitor do you have in there? If you can post photos of the monitor and cabinet that will help narrow things down.

[Nightowljrm]

I left the machine on while I was away for a few hours and when I returned, it was off entirely but the sound was still running. But I didn't smell anything. I do vaguely remember something being loose, though, so that is a VERY good possibility. I just have no idea where to begin.

[Nightowljrm]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ckke4_m36c/TkF8avgHHWI/AAAAAAAAAEc/RXF2lhkZe8g/s1600/2011-08-09+13.13.48.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BbfodKiCC9A/TkF8Vz77b_I/AAAAAAAAAEY/UYb7I6aBmoc/s1600/2011-08-09+13.13.37.jpg

One of the stickers has a "Williams" logo on it. I don't know what's important about the monitor, so if you need better pictures with better lighting, just tell me. I'm more than willing to cooperate as much as I can so that $200 isn't wasted. Plus, I'd love to learn how to work on arcades and stuff, so I guess I got what I wanted. @_@ A bit daunting to say the least.

Anyway, thanks for the help so far.

[stonic]

Definitely Solar Warrior then, since that's an Electrohome G07. Did you check to see you have AC voltage at the monitor plug, and that the fuses on the monitor board are good (there's 2 of them), as Arcade Antics suggested?

[Nightowljrm]

No, I have not. Is there any kind of picture I can refer to? It sounds like I could have potentially done something myself, and I don't want to harm it any further.

Where is the monitor plug and what does it look like?

What are the fuses on the monitor board?

Pictures would definitely be of good use.

[stonic]

There's plenty of info online for troubleshooting these, as they're a very common monitor. Here's one: http://www.pinrepair.com/g07/

[Nightowljrm]

Hm. By the first paragraph, it looks like we may have found the problem:


Most monitors I encounter are DOA. That is, they are dead. (If they weren't dead, people wouldn't be calling me.) The most common cause is that the electrolytic capacitors in the G07 dry out, thus reducing their capacitance. Think of an electrolytic cap as electriconic jelly roll, and with time and heat from the monitor, the jelly dries out, making the caps deteroiate to basically doing just short of nothing. This starts out with a picture that is wavy or warping. But most people don't fix this (with a "cap kit" as they are called, available from many sources for about $10). What eventually happens is the reduced capacitance stresses other parts, and the monitor basically impodes. Below is a picture of one such G07, where the caps dried out and the high voltage (HV) flyback transformer blew up. In the process it also took out the Horizontal output transistor (aka H.O.T.). Notice the HV flyback transformer has a huge crack along its side, and goo has leaked out.

I don't know what exactly he meant by "wavy", but what would happen was there would be a lot of lines scrolling through the screen. When I would adjust a wire in the back, it would stop. I mean, although this was a wire I would just move slightly, so I don't think that would make much sense. Plus, I didn't smell anything as described earlier... But at the same time, the monitor is DEAD, even when I move that original wire.

Why do the pictures of the monitor-board thing (sorry for the ignorance) look different than mine? Is that how it looks when the monitor is removed?

[Arcade Antics]

Why do the pictures of the monitor-board thing (sorry for the ignorance) look different than mine?
They don't look different, they look the same. :) Your photos are just turned around 180 degrees.


Is that how it looks when the monitor is removed?
Yeah, the photos show the boards disconnected from the tube. If you're going to recap the monitor, you should throw a new flyback in there too as long as you've got it all taken apart.

But - again - did you measure the voltage, or are you just assuming the monitor is dead? Did you test the fuses? If 902 is blown you might as well replace the HOT.

[Nightowljrm]

What do I need to measure the voltage?

[Arcade Antics]

Multimeter.

[Nightowljrm]

Multimeter.

Guess I'll have to grab one, then. Is there a specific brand or type I should get?

[Arcade Antics]

Any decent $20-30 model is plenty for what you'll be doing. You can try the $3 Harbor Freight model, but they have a tendency to be unreliable at times.

[Nightowljrm]

Okay, cool. So what should the voltage read?